October is basically over and the pink-themed merchandise on their website is almost sold out, so the Kansas City Chiefs are now free to abandon any pretense that they care about women.
With misogynistic kicker Harrison Butker struggling to do his one job, the Chiefs are doubling down on their contempt for women by bringing in a serial sexual predator as his possible replacement. And don't give me the spiel that Kansas City signing Justin Tucker to the practice squad on Wednesday, Oct. 28, is simply a football decision. Tucker might have been a five-time All-Pro, but he's almost 37 and hasn't kicked in the NFL in almost two years – and he wasn't a whole lot better than Butker during his last season.
No, this was a choice. And it should tell all
those girls and women who have flooded the Chiefs' bandwagon in Taylor Swift adjacency the past four seasons what the team really thinks of them.
"He's done his suspension. Took care of that business there," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said when asked about the message Kansas City was sending to its female fans. "I'll leave it at that for you."
That Reid can't even be bothered to say why Tucker was suspended, or acknowledge why fans might be troubled by his signing, is the kind of arrogance that makes women question why we continue supporting these leagues and teams when they let us down every chance they get.
Chiefs trade Harrison Butker's values for Justin Tucker's perversion
It's offensive enough the Chiefs have continued to hang onto Butker, who thinks women have little purpose in life beyond being broodmares and has publicly longed for a return to the days when men had primacy and women meekly acquiesced. But Butker has largely been dismissed, even mocked, as a 1950s relic, his misogyny not extending to physical harm.
The same can't be said for Tucker.
For those who have forgotten Tucker existed, let alone why he disappeared from the NFL, let's revisit: Sixteen women told the Baltimore Banner in 2025 that Tucker had been sexually inappropriate with them. Most of the women didn't know of each other, but the details of their encounters with Tucker were disturbingly similar.
Tucker intentionally exposed himself during massages that he booked apart from the team, the women said. In some cases, therapists told the Banner he brushed his erect penis against them. At least four therapists told the Banner they found what appeared to be ejaculate on the sheet after Tucker left.
Several of the women provided corroboration of their experiences, and two spas told the Banner they had banned Tucker because of his inappropriate behavior during massages.
Justin Tucker's 10-game NFL ban is telling: This was bad
Tucker, unsurprisingly, denied all the accusations. But the NFL suspended Tucker for 10 weeks after conducting its own investigation. Ten weeks!
To put Tucker's suspension in perspective, remember that March 2024 multi-car pileup involving Rashee Rice that sent two people to the hospital and earned the Chiefs wide receiver a 30-day jail sentence? The league sidelined Rice six games for that.
The NFL hasn't released any details of its investigation into Tucker, nor has it commented on the ban beyond its announcement of the suspension in June 2025. But whatever the NFL found, it was enough to convince them what Tucker did was much worse than Rice's crimes.
Those, however, are apparently minor details when compared to the Chiefs desperation to win. If Tucker can make the field goals Butker has been missing, turning a blind eye to the harm he did to at least 16 women is a small price to pay, right? And if that acceptance signals to the general public that the health and well-being of women are transactional and less important than the Chiefs' success, so be it.
Kansas City Chiefs show 'Swifties' what's really important to them
It is exhausting, the disdain major men's sports leagues and their teams continue to have for women. Oh, they'll pretend to care long enough to take our money and get our butts in the seats and in front of TVs. But when it comes to consequences for those who demean and hurt us, their continued enabling and inaction speak volumes.
The Chiefs have made a very public show of embracing all the "Swifties," who've become Kansas City fans since she was first linked to Travis Kelce in 2023. No surprise, given women now make up more than half of Kansas City's fan base.
"It certainly has opened up an opportunity for us to connect with a new demographic from a fan standpoint," Chiefs owner Clark Hunt told the Hollywood Reporter in August 2025. "I'm pretty sure that the Chiefs ranked No. 1 among NFL teams in the female demographic."
But that loyalty and respect only goes one way. The Chiefs had a choice when they went looking for competition for their flailing, misogynistic kicker, and they went with the one guy whose attitudes toward women are somehow even worse.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chiefs spoil 'Taylor Swift era' with indefensible Justin Tucker signing | Opinion
